You have finally decided to do something about how your business shows up online. You asked for proposals and they have arrived: a two-page quote from a local agency, a glossy deck from a larger firm, and an email from a freelancer offering a package at a price that seems too good to be true. The prices differ by a factor of five, the language is almost identical, and every one of them promises more clients. How do you compare things that are not built to be compared?
The good news is that a serious quote can be recognised by a handful of specific features. This guide lists what should be in it, the warning signs that should make you pause, and a simple way to put every proposal on the same footing before you decide.
What a serious quote should contain
The outcome, expressed in clients
A good proposal starts with your goal: which client enquiries you want, for which services, in which area. If it talks only about digital presence, brand awareness or traffic, and never names the buyers you are after, it is selling activity rather than results.
What is delivered, and when
After reading it, you should be able to say what you will actually receive and on what schedule. You do not need to understand the technical side; you need the commitment to be clear, dated and checkable. A vague line about a full-service partnership protects nobody.
Measurement
How will you know it is working? The quote should state how often you get reports, what they cover and, crucially, that you will have access to your own Google tools to check results without going through the provider. It should also include a review early in the engagement.
A delivery guarantee
What happens if the provider fails to deliver? A serious quote includes a concrete remedy. No clause at all leaves you with nothing to fall back on.
The total first-year cost
Setup fees, monthly fees, add-ons, exit fees: add everything up over twelve months. It is the only number that lets you compare offers that are structured differently.
Ownership of your accounts
Your website, your Google accounts and your data must stay yours if you switch provider. Make sure that is written down.
Warning signs
- A promised top position. Nobody controls what Google or an AI assistant decides. Our guide on first-place promises explains why this is the biggest red flag of all.
- A guaranteed number of clients. The provider decides neither what is shown nor whom the buyer calls.
- A very low price with no delivery commitment. You may end up paying monthly for nothing you can verify.
- Jargon as the only explanation. If you still cannot tell what you are buying after a careful read, the problem is the quote, not you.
- No cap on competing clients. A provider serving all your competitors cannot fight for any of them.
- No verifiable proof. Ask what they have achieved, even if only for their own website.
Putting every quote on the same footing
Build a short five-line table and fill it in for each proposal:
| Criterion | What you are looking for |
|---|---|
| Total cost over 12 months | One all-inclusive figure |
| Delivery | Clearly described, with deadlines |
| Guarantee | A remedy if delivery does not happen |
| Measurement | Regular reports, access to your own tools, an early review |
| Exclusivity | A cap on competitors in your sector and area |
An offer at half the price that leaves three cells empty is actually the more expensive one: you pay without being able to check anything. A pricier offer that fills every cell may well be the most profitable if it brings in clients. Keep our list of questions to ask before signing a visibility contract next to the table.
Think in value, not just price
The right quote is not the cheapest one; it is the one most likely to earn back more than it costs. Work backwards: given what a new client is worth to you, how many extra clients a year would cover the total first-year cost? For many businesses the answer is surprisingly few. The calculator on the Traffic Engine page runs that reasoning with your own numbers.
The Traffic Engine quote, line by line
Traffic Engine is Kolonell's service for making your business visible when buyers search for what you do, on Google and in AI assistant answers. Every line of the table is filled in, and the prices are public. You start with a Visibility Audit at €690, delivered within 48 working hours and deducted from the €1,500 setup if you go ahead within 30 days. Three monthly plans: Presence at €1,100, Momentum at €1,900 and Flood at €3,500. On Momentum, the total first-year cost is €24,300. The commitment is 12 months, with a measured review at three months.
Every week you get a dated report; you follow results in your own Search Console; if what your plan includes is not live on time, the next month is free. Kolonell commits to delivery and measurement, not to what Google decides. Each sector is capped at 3 seats per area. Read the full offer and set it against your other quotes.
Before you choose
Fill in the table for each proposal, send the questions that are still unanswered and write down the replies. The provider who is happy to be compared line by line is often the right one. If you are still unsure, read how to choose a visibility partner, then run the free website score to see where you are starting from.